A Foul State of Affairs
by Tetsuwan Penguin
Summary: Astro and Uran are accidentally transported to Duckburg when Uran fools around with Professor Ochanomizu's latest invention. Will they ever make it back to Metro City, or will they run afoul with F.O.U.L.?
1. Chapter 1

**A Fowl State of Affairs**

 **1.**

 **Professor** Ochanomizu put on his dark welding goggles and picked up the heavy electrodes. He made sure that the clamps holding the metal in position were tight and then turned on the power to the arc welder. Sparks flew high into the air as he drew a bead of metal across the two beams creating a strong union between them. After a few minutes he shut down the power, stood back and removed the dark lenses from his face. He admired the job he'd just done, the chamber was almost completed and would soon be ready for its first test.

"What are you doing Hakase?" Astro asked as he walked in, followed closely by his sister Uran.

"I'm working on the inter-dimensional transporter I told you about," the professor replied. "This machine should be able to transport matter between any two points on earth through higher dimensions instantly."

"Could it send me to Disney World in Florida?" Uran asked. "I've always wanted to see that theme park."

"Until I thoroughly test this machine it's much too dangerous for any sentient being to be transported by it." the professor said. "I'll have the machine finished by the end of the day, and maybe tomorrow we'll try transporting some simple things from one end of the building to the other."

"That sounds boring." Uran said.

"Come on sis, let's leave Hakase alone so he can finish his project," Astro said, pulling Uran by the hand. "Let's go get some ice cream, OK?"

"Only if you're buying!" Uran teased.

"Sure thing!" Astro laughed as the two of them left the laboratory.

Ochanomizu put the dark goggles back on and picked up the welding electrodes again. He started to make a few more welds on the chamber, fitting the final pieces into place. "My that looks perfect!" he said to himself trying the door into the device. "Now to finish programming the control computer and we can see if we can power this thing up and test it."

* * *

 **It** was getting dark outside, but the professor was still hard at work in the laboratory. He opened the door to the glass lined chamber and placed a small glass statue that Yuki had given him inside. Suddenly the door to the laboratory opened and Uran ran in with Astro trying to keep up with her.

"I wanna go home!" she yelled at her guardian. "I'm going to miss my TV shows!"

"I'm sorry, I guess I lost track of the time." the professor said. "I was just about to test the transporter."

"Can I watch?" Uran asked, having a sudden mood change.

"Sure." Ochanomizu said. "I'm about to send this little statue next door."

The professor went over to the control computer and brought up a screen showing a map. He zoomed in on the Ministry of Science building and a 3D image of the building's inside appeared. He then moved the computer cursor to the room next door and clicked on it.

"There, now the machine knows where to send this little trinket that Yuko thought I'd like."

"You mean that ugly glass statue you hate." Uran laughed.

"Yeah, it makes a perfect expendable test object." Ochanomizu laughed.

He activated the transport switch, and the inside of the chamber started to glow with a soft light. The glass statue started to look rather faint, and slowly faded from view.

"It's gone!" Uran said.

"Let's go next door and look for it!" Astro said running to the door, followed by his sister.

The two robot children ran into the office just next to Professor Ochanomizu's laboratory and looked around. Sitting on a chair was a glowing object. Slowly the light surrounding it faded and they could see what it was.

"It's that glass statue!" Uran said grabbing it. The object was cold to the touch which surprised her, it slipped out of her fingers and fell to the floor, shattering into about a dozen pieces. Astro scooped up the largest bits of the broken glass and carried them next door.

"It made it over there," he said showing the professor what was in his hands.

"Something went wrong!" Ochanomizu sighed, "It arrived broken!"

"No it didn't." Uran sobbed. "I picked it up and I dropped it by accident! I'm sorry!"

"That's alright Uran." the professor said, patting her on the head. "Accidents happen to the best of us." He looked at his watch, and smiled. "If we leave now you can still catch your shows on TV at home."

"OK, Hakase!" Uran said.

The three of them left the building and drove home. All the way back, Uran was thinking about how wonderful the professor's machine was.

* * *

 **Astro** was awakened in the middle of the night by noises coming from Uran's room next door. He tiptoed across the hallway and peeked into his sister's room to find her busily packing a suitcase.

"Are you running away from home?" he asked.

"No, I'm going to Disney World!" she said

"Leaving in the middle of the night?" Astro asked.

"It's daytime in Florida right now." She said.

Astro suddenly realized what she had in mind. "You're NOT going to try and use the professor's machine!"

"Why not?" she asked. "It works just fine."

"You don't know that!" Astro said. "It only sent a cheap hunk of glass into the next room!"

"I'm not scared." She said. "Everything Hakase makes works perfectly. He made me!"

Astro face palmed. "You better go back to bed and forget this crazy idea!" It was then that Astro noticed the jet packs attached to his sister's feet.

"You weren't thinking of flying over to the ministry right now were you?" he asked.

"Yes, and you are not going to stop me!" she said walking towards the window.

"You'd better not!" Astro said.

"Try and catch me!" Uran teased, jumping out of the open window.

Astro took off flying after his sister. She knew he'd follow her, and she was able to fake a turn one way and zigzag another. Astro was able to keep up, but just barely. He arrived at the Ministry just as Uran flew though the window of the professor's laboratory. She was already at the computer terminal, setting the controls for Disney World.

"There now all I have to do is click on the activate button and enter the chamber." she said.

Astro ran over to the chamber door. "Get out of there Uran, it's too dangerous!" he said reaching inside to pull his sister out of it. Suddenly the door slammed shut behind him, throwing Astro into the chamber next to his sister. A bright light enveloped them and a loud humming sound deafened them.

"I'm scarred!" Uran yelled. "Why did I think this was a good idea?" she cried.

The noise faded and the light dimmed. Astro and Uran then found themselves in the middle of an unfamiliar place. It looked like a city, but in strange colors and a plastic looking texture.

"Where are we?" Uran sobbed. "Is this Disney Land?"

Astro looked around him. They were in the middle of a crowded downtown, with lots of people walking by them. Only they weren't exactly people, they were all anthropomorphic DUCKS!


	2. Chapter 2

**A Fowl State of Affairs**

 **2.**

 **Professor** Ochanomizu was awakened by both his land line telephone and his cell phone both ringing at the same time. He answered both, holding the mobile phone up to his left ear, and the handset of the hardwired phone to his right.

The mobile phone kept repeating a recorded message about a fire being detected in his laboratory at the Ministry of Science. Astro's robotic father was on the land land in a near panic state.

"What's the matter?" he asked the anxious parent.

"Astro and Uran are missing!" came the answer. "The window to her room was left open, and her things are in a mess, like she was packing in a hurry. Her favorite clothes are missing! Are she and Astro with you?"

The professor tried to calm the robot down, and told him he had an idea where the two robot kids were. After hanging up the phone he quickly dressed and drove over to the Ministry to see what had happened in the laboratory. There was no doubt in his mind that both phone calls were related.

When Ochanomizu arrived at the laboratory, the Metro City fire department had already been there. Yuko was waiting for him outside of the lab. "While the lab's smoke detector triggered an alarm, there didn't seem to be an active fire." She told him.

"Let's take a look at the damage" Ochanomizu sighed, opening the door and walking in.

There was a strong odor of ozone in the room, even though the ventilation system had been working full blast to clear out the smoke. It was obvious at once what had happened. All of the glass windows in the transporter machine's chamber had been blasted outwards, and the inside of it was heavily charred. The fuses in the power amplifiers between the chamber and the control computer were all blown, and the badly burned up machine had been left in the powered on condition. The professor examined the control computer and saw where the settings had been left. His face showed an angry grimace as he realized just what had happened.

"What's the matter Hakase?" Yuko asked, "That is beside the fact that this machine seems to have blown up."

"That stupid, head strong, kid has done it again!" Ochanomizu sighed. "And I bet she's managed to get her brother involved too!"

"Who? What?" Yuko asked.

"Uran." the professor sighed. "The Cartesian coordinate destination controls on the machine were set for Disney World Florida," he said. "Unfortunately, the dimensional control was adjusted for the 60th dimension, and the power level was cranked up to full!"

"What does that mean?" the professor's assistant asked.

"It means that the machine was set for an overload, and whoever was in that chamber is lost in an alternate universe! At least I know where they went, but I won't be able to get them back until I can rebuild this machine. That may take me anywhere from a few days, to a month depending on how many critical parts were destroyed in the overload."

"Why would Uran do something so reckless?" Yuko asked.

"She'd been bugging me to take her and her family to Walt Disney World for several weeks now, ever since the Japan exhibit in their Epcot park opened that new robot show," the professor replied. "I bet she decided to sneak off there for a quick look and return. Astro must have tried to stop her, and they both ended up, who knows where!"

* * *

 **Uran** clung tightly on to Astro in fear. "Where are we Ani?" she sobbed. "And why is everybody here a duck?"

"I'm not sure." Astro replied. "Just how did you set those controls on the transporter machine?"

"I used Google maps to zero on on Disney World, right in front of Planet Earth." she said. Then I cranked up both of the power controls to full, so I'd get there quickly."

Astro face palmed. "I think you overdid it, Uran." he said. "You must have sent us to another planet in another solar system or something!"

Uran's face contorted with hysteria and she began to bawl, her tears free flowed down her face and dripped onto her pink dress. "I'm so stupid!" she cried. "Now we're stuck in this duck world forever!"

Astro instinctively reached for a pocket to get his sister a tissue, but he wasn't wearing anything but his black briefs and boots having ran out of bed to confront his sister earlier. Uran wiped her face on a sleeve of her blouse. She buried her head in Astro's chest, and her brother wrapped his arms around her to give a comforting hug. "Don't cry, sis." he said. "I'm sure Hakase will figure out where we are and get us back home."

"You think so?" Uran sobbed.

"Sure." Astro said as convincingly as possible.

"What's the matter?"

Uran lifted her head away from Astro's chest and looked to see where the voice had come from.

"You OK, little girl?"

Standing next to the two robot kids were three ducklings dressed in bright clothing, wearing baseball caps on their heads.

"Hello." the third one said. "My name is Louie, and these are my brothers Huey and Dewey."

Uran was speechless for a few moments, not quite believing what she was seeing.

Astro regained his composure quickly, and did the polite thing.

"Pleased to met you." he said. "My name is Astro, and this is my sister Uran. We're lost, and not quite sure just where we are, or how we got here."

"You're in downtown Duckburg!" Louie said.

"Do you guys have a place to stay?" Huey asked.

"If not you're welcome to come home with us, I'm sure our Uncle Donald won't mind!" Dewey added.

"Gee thank you!" Uran said, drying her eyes with the sleeve of her blouse.

* * *

 **Donald** had just gotten out of the shower and was drying himself when his nephews barged into the house. Uran and Astro followed them into the front foyer just as Dewey slammed the door shut and the three ducklings yelled out, "We're home Uncle Donald!"

Their Uncle peeked out from the bathroom with a large bath towel wrapped around him. "You're early boys, but that's good because something's come up and I need to talk to you." he yelled back. "I'll be out in a few minutes!"

Donald quickly dressed and combed the feathers on the top of his head. He splashed on some cologne and emerged from his bedroom adjusting the bow-tie on his tux. "What do you think guys?" he asked, first noticing the visitors. "Hey who did you bring home?"

Astro bowed politely Japanese style as he spoke, "I'm Astro, and this is my sister Uran." He said. "We just arrived in Duckburg by accident and your nephews asked us to visit with them."

"Yeah, Uncle Donald." Louie said. "They're lost and have nowhere to go."

"Awww." Donald sighed. "Listen fellows, I've got a hot date tonight with Daisy and I really don't need you around to spoil things. I asked your great Uncle Scrooge to take you in for the night so I can be alone."

Uran smiled at Donald. "Your look wonderful, Mr. Duck." She said. "I hope you and your girlfriend have a wonderful evening. Don't worry about me and my brother, we'll be fine."

Donald sighed and patted Uran on the head. "I'm sure it will be OK with my Uncle if you and your brother have dinner with him and my nephews. He's a kind hearted guy, at least around kids."

"You'll like our Uncle Scrooge!" Huey said. "He's got a huge house with servants and lots of toys!"

"We'll see you later, Uncle Donald!" Dewey said. "Come on you guys, let's run over to Uncle Scrooge and surprise him!"

Louie opened the door and Huey walked out and motioned for Astro and Uran to follow him. Dewey walked out after the robotic children, followed by Louie who slammed the door shut loudly!

"How many times to I have to tell you guys not to slam the door!" Donald yelled from in the house. As the five kids marched down the front driveway toward the street, Daisy Duck got out of Launchpad McQuack's taxicab and was heading for Donald's front door. "Hi, Daisy!" Louie said. "Uncle Donald put on some smelly stuff that you like!" Dewey laughed.

Launchpad McQuack stood by the taxicab. He noticed the kids heading in the direction of Scrooge McDuck's house and called to them.

"Hey guys, need a lift over to your Uncle's house?" He asked.

"Sure Launchpad!" Huey said.

The three ducklings got in the back seat of the taxi, and Launchpad opened the front passenger side door and motioned for Astro and Uran to get in.

"Friends of yours?" he asked.

"We just met them." Louie answered. "They're lost." Dewey added.

"Well then welcome to Duckburg!" McQuack said as he closed the door and ran around to the other side of the vehicle to get inside.

"You guys better buckle your seat belts!" Huey said from the back seat. "Launchpad drives his cab like it was a race car!"

"I resemble that remark!" McQuack answered, as he put the cab in motion, grinding gears shifting. The cab sped off taking the turn around the corner on two wheels. They sped by a police officer directing traffic, the cab running though a deep puddle and spraying the cop with muddy water.

"Opps. Didn't mean for that to happen!" Launchpad said. "Hope he didn't get my license plate number!"

They bounced down a particularly bumpy road, and then went flying over an embankment. The cab sped down a hill, hit a big bump at the bottom and went flying though the air landing about a hundred feet away. Two of the tires blew out and the vehicle skidded sideways into McDuck's driveway, rear ending his Rolls-Kanhardly. The limo didn't seem to suffer any damage, while the front bumper of McQuack's taxi fell off.

"Well we're here, safe and sound!" McQuack announced with pride.

"Does he always drive this badly?" Uran asked as they got out of the cab.

"Actually, this trip was pretty good!" Louie said. "Yeah, he only crashed once this time!" Dewey added.


	3. Chapter 3

**A Fowl State of Affairs**

 **3.**

 **Duckworth** answered the door before the ducklings had a chance to even ring the doorbell. McDuck's butler had a sixth (and seventh) sense that enabled him to keep on step ahead of his boss and the rest of the household.

"Sir, your nephews have arrived and they seem to have brought some friends along." Duckworth announced..

"Very well, show them in!" Scrooge yelled from two rooms away. "I'm busy counting my spare change!"

"Follow me!" Duckworth told the children, leading them into the playroom. "You can entertain yourselves here until the master is ready for you."

"Hey Duckworth!" Huey said, "Want to play Nascar with us?"

"I'm sorry, I don't have time to engage in any video games." the butler said.

"You're too stuck up, you know that?" Dewey said. "Uncle Scrooge always plays with us."

"Yeah, sometimes we even let him win!" Louie added.

"No you don't" Scrooge McDuck said, entering the room. "I'm just too good for you and you know it!"

"Wanna put your money where you mouth is?" Dewey asked.

"Are you challenging me to a race?" Scrooge asked.

"Sure am!" Huey answered, holding a video game controller at arms length to hand it to his great uncle.

"You're on!" McDuck laughed.

For the next ten minutes the old geezer and his nephews battled it out on the virtual race track. Huey had selected a Corvette as his racing vehicle, Dewey was driving a Shelby Ford Mustang, and Louie was behind the wheel of a Firebird Trans-am right out of a Burt Reynolds movie. Uncle Scrooge was driving the General Lee, and the Duke Brother's '69 Dodge Charger was creaming the competition.

Uran and Astro stood in the sidelines watching quietly.

"There, I told ya I was too good for ya!" Uncle Scrooge said, handing the game controller back to Huey. He then noticed Astro and Uran. "Pardon my bad manors!" he said, I didn't introduce meself to your friends! I'm Scrooge McDuck and I'm always pleased to meet any friends of my nephews!"

"Pleased to meet you Mr. McDuck," Uran said. "My name is Uran, and this is my brother Astro."

"You're not from around these parts are you?" Scrooge asked.

"No, we were transported here by accident and we're not sure exactly where we are and how we are going to get back." Astro replied.

"Transported?" McDuck asked. "Sounds like something outta science fiction."

"Our Guardian Hakase Ochanomizu invented a device that can instantly transport anything over great distances." Uran explained.

"I think my sister managed to set the thing to jump over multiple dimensions, we may be in a parallel universe since there are no duck people where we come from." Astro added.

"Well then I have just the answer!" McDuck smiled. I know two very brilliant scientists that might be able to help ya. One of them is quite the intellectual, sometimes I don't even understand what he's saying. The other one is a bit on the strange side and somewhat absent minded, but he's a great inventor."

"You must mean Professor Ludwid Von Drake, and that nutty Gyro Gearloose", Huey butted in.

"Now don't go insulting people!" McDuck corrected his nephew. Gyro Gearloose has done me quite a few favors!"

"Do you suppose we can go talk to these inventors?" Uran asked. "Do you think they could find a way to get us back home?"

"Certainly!" McDuck exclaimed. "Let's have dinner first, and then I need to make a stop over at my money bin to make a deposit. Then we will head over to the professor's house and ask him for his help.

 **Mrs. Beakley** escorted the ducklings, Astro and Uran to the dining room, Scrooge McDuck followed after them. "I'm so glad you're staying with us again," she told the boys, "I've missed you, and I've prepared your favorite dinner!"

Huey, Dewey, and Louie quickly took their seats at the table, after first showing their guests where to sit.

"Now who are your friends?" Mrs. Beakley asked, "and what would they like for dinner?"

"We just met them on our way back from the movie theater downtown." Louie told the Nanny. "They said they were lost." Dewey added. "Their names are Astro and Uran" Huey said.

Duckworth wheeled a serving cart from the kitchen and dished out Mrs. Beakleys pot roast onto the ducklings plates. He then served Mr. McDuck a large Salmon roast.

Astro and Uran just sat quietly. "You can just get us some water." Astro said. "We're not very hungry."

"Nonsense!" McDuck yelled. "Youngster's need their nourishment!"

"Actually, we're not what you think we are." Uran said. "We're robots, so we don't need to eat."

"You wouldn't happen to have any liquid deuterium would you?" Astro asked. "That's what we use for fuel."

"You're robots?" the four ducklings cried out.

"You're pulling me leg!" Scrooge laughed.

"No, not really." Astro answered, opening the panel on his chest to reveal his inner mechanics. Everyone at the table stared at him with their mouths hanging open. Astro closed his chest panel placed his hands on the table. "You'll just have to believe me, It would be unladylike like for me to show you my insides!" Uran said.

"My, My." Scrooge laughed, "Just wait till Gearloose sees you! He might have some of that deuterium stuff in his lab."

"Are you sure I can't get you anything?" Mrs. Beakley said, "Maybe some oil or something?"

"Actually, some light oil in water would be nice." Astro said. "It could be vegetable oil." Uran added.

"I'll see to it at once!" Duckworth replied, returning to the kitchen.

 **After** everyone finished their dinner, Scrooge put on his hat and coat and picked up his walking stick. "After a good dinner it's best to take a walk to help with the digestion." he announced. "So let's all go out and head towards the bank. I need to make a deposit."

McDuck carefully put a fat envelope into the inside pocket of of his topcoat and buttoned it shut. Duckworth opened the door for him and the group headed out into the night air. "My money bin isn't too far from here." he announced, "Just a five minute walk towards downtown."

The bank was just closing its doors when they arrived, but the manager recognized their best customer, and unlocked the door. "You're a little late, Mr. McDuck." Mr. Billingsly the manager explained, "But for you, we'll make an exception anytime."

"I'm terribly sorry to inconvenience you." McDuck said. "Are you sure you don't mind staying open a wee bit late on my account? I can always come back tomorrow."

"Nonsense!" Billingsly said. "You're only five minutes late, and I still have some of my own book keeping to take care of before I can leave for the day."

 **Fenton Crackshell** walked away from the teller's window. He had been the last customer of the evening, having just deposited his paycheck and was heading for the door. As Mr. Billingsly unlocked the front door to let Fenton out of the bank, three unsavory looking plug uglies barged into the bank. All three of them wore masks and brandished semi-automatic pistols. The Beagle Boys waved their guns about, and ordered everyone to put their hands in the air.

"Well, it looks like we hit the jackpot!" number 176-167 laughed.

"Yeah, looks who's here! It's Scrooge McDuck!" number 176-671 answered.

"Put your hands up and hand me your fat wallet!" number 176-176 said, poking Scrooge with his gun.

"They're robbing Uncle Scrooge!" Louie said.

"Damn Beagle boys!" Dewey replied.

"I'll put a stop to this!" Astro said, walking towards the three criminals.

Fenton Crackshell, got off the floor and dusted himself off. He'd been knocked over when the three gangsters slammed the door in his face while he tried to leave the bank. "Blathering Blatherskite!" he yelled out loud.

Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light surrounding Crackshell, and a clap of thunder. Everyone turned to see what had happened, and standing there was Gizmo Duck!

"Put your hands up you criminals!" the robotic superhero cried out in a deep voice.

"Youse got to be kidding!" number 176-167 laughed.

"Yeah, you stuffed tin can with a unicycle!" number 176-671 added.

Astro stood next to Gizmo Duck and glared at the Beagle Boys. "You need some help?" he asked the robotic super hero.

"I can handle these Bozos!" Fenton laughed. He held out his right hand and pressed a button on the gantlet with his left. Suddenly, the guns flew out of the gangster's hands and landed in Gizmo Duck's gloved fist!

"Hey how'd you do that?" number 176-176 cried out.

"Powerful electromagnetism!" Gizmo Duck said.

"I'll take care of those dangerous toys, if you'd like." Astro said.

"Be my guest!" Fenton said, tossing the three weapons toward Astro.

Gizmo Duck opened a compartment in his armor and pulled out a length of stout rope. He proceeded to tie up the Beagle Boys who were astonished as they watched Astro bend their guns into small steel balls with his bare hands.

Uran walked up to Gizmo Duck and lightly tapped on his armored suit. "Are you a robot too?" she inquired.

"My suit is robotic, but I'm not." Fenton answered.

"Oh, well. My brother and I are robots, and for a moment there I thought I'd found someone like us in this strange duck world."

"How'd you get here," Gizmo Duck asked, "If you don't mind my asking?"

"In an inter-dimensional transporter machine set on overload." Astro answered. "We wanted to go half way around the world, looks like we went way beyond that into another universe or something."

"In that case you really need to meet Gyro Gearloose the inventor." Fenton said. "He invented this robotic super suit I'm wearing! I bet he could help you."

* * *

 **The** Duckburg police soon showed up with a paddy wagon and hauled the Beagle Boys back to jail. With the excitement over, Mr. Billingsly led Scrooge McDuck to the back of the bank though a heavily armored door into the enlarged vault that held McDuck's money bin. Billingsly dialed one of the two combination locks, and McDuck the other one which allowed the door to be swung open with some difficulty.

The bank officer escorted Scrooge into the dark vault and reached over to the wall to find the light switch. "Here you go sir." he said, his voice reverberating in the large room. As the lights came on both men were in shock.

"Where's my money!" McDuck cried out. The vault was completely empty!

"My god!" Billingsly gasped. "This vault hasn't been opened since the last time you were here just days ago!"

"Well then how do you explain the fact that it's empty!" Scrooge yelled.

"We have the best security system in the business!" Billingsly stammered. "This door is the only way into this vault. Each time the door is opened or closed a recording is made on two computer monitoring systems, and the door itself records a record of each time the locks are opened and closed along with a time stamp."

The bank manager produced a hard copy of the recording. "See, the last time this door was opened and closed was two days ago, and your signature is on the record as having entered the vault. No one has gone through that door since then!"

"Then how do ye explain the fact that the vault is now empty?" McDuck demanded.

"I can't!" Billingsly explained.

By this time the ducklings had gotten tired of waiting for their great uncle to come back from the vault. They found their way to the back of the bank and saw their uncle and the bank manager yelling at each other by the open door of the huge vault. Astro and Uran followed them.

"It's empty!" Huey said.

"Where is all of Uncle Scrooge's money?" Louie asked.

"Are you poor now, Uncle Scrooge?" Dewey sobbed.

"I'm sure the bank is insured for this sort of thing." McDuck glared at Billingsly.

"Well, actually …. " the bank manager started to say, biting his nails, "this might just put the bank out of business!"

"Looks like I'm going to have to hire me a Sherduck Holmes!" Scrooge said.


	4. Chapter 4

**A Fowl State of Affairs**

 **4.**

 **Astro** entered the vault and carefully looked around. "I don't see anyway other than the door into this room." He said. "I've scanned it in all wavelengths from IR to Xray and the walls, floor and ceiling and floor are solid."

"That's what I've told you Mr. McDuck!" Billingsly moaned. "This is an impossible crime!"

 **Over** in the far corner of the bank, hiding behind a potted fern in the reception area stood Drake Mallard. He'd entered the bank right behind Fenton Crackshell, and made himself invisible by standing where nobody was looking. He quickly turned his cloak inside out and pulled a cape out from a hidden compartment. He brushed past Gizmo Duck who was still entertaining Uran, and entered the vault where Scrooge McDuck was still fuming with Mr. Billingsly. Astro was the first to notice the duck who walked into the vault, he was now wearing a deep purple outfit with a large rimmed hat.

"Looks like you need a detective!" The distinguished looking individual said.

"Darkwing Duck!" Mr. Billingsly cried. "How is it that you always manage to show up whenever some super crime has been committed?"

"That's what I do!" Darkwing said. "I solve them!"

Darkwing pulled out a large convex lens from his pocket and started to examine the interior of the empty vault. Astro shrugged his shoulders. "He's not going to find anything." he said.

Uran and Gizmo Duck now entered the vault. "What are you doing here?" Gizmo Duck asked. "You charlatan."

"Hummh!" Darkwing gruffed back. "All brawn and no brain, that's what you is."

"Really?" Gizmo Duck pressed a button on his left gantlet and started scanning the room with his gloved left hand. "I'm picking up a faint IM trace here." He said.

"What does that mean?" Astro asked.

"It's almost like a rift has been opened in the space-time continuum." The robotic super duck replied.

"In English?" Darkwing said.

"I think a wormhole has opened and closed in here." GizmoDuck replied.

 **Scrooge McDuck** gave the empty insides of the vault a final look and walked out. "I think that we should go over to Gearloose's place and pick his brains on this." McDuck said. "Wormholes sound like something just up his alley!"

"Can we ask him about getting us back home?" Uran asked.

"Certainly!" Scrooge said. "Somehow, I think your appearance and the robbery of my money bin are somehow related anyway."

"You don't mean you think we had something to do with it!" Astro said.

"Oh no, not at all!" McDuck replied. "But two science fiction like events in the same day are a bit of a coincidence! Maybe the reason you are here was a side effect of whatever contraption was used to gain access to the bank."

"That's just possible." Darkwing said.

They left the bank and headed out into the street. Suddenly a short statured character wearing a dark form fitting costume with a cape and cowl swung down from the top of a nearby tall building on a line. He smashed head first into the front of the bank, but quickly picked himself up off the street.

"Now just what are you Cosplaying as now, Daffy!" McDuck asked.

"Cosplay! The short duck laughed. "I'll have you know that you're addressing the worlds greatest detective, BatDuck!"

"Oh good grief!" McDuck face palmed. "Go home Daffy, before you get hurt!"

"Not until I investigate this crime!" he said entering the bank.

"That stupid duck has illusions of grander!" McDuck laughed. "Last week he was solving crimes as 'the Green Duck'. The police had to come to his rescue. What a buffoon!"

Astro, Uran, the triplets, the two superheros, and McDuck walked across town towards Gyro Gearloose's house. When they arrived, it was obvious that something was wrong. "That's strange." Gizmo Duck said, "His front door is wide open and all the lights in the house are on."

They quickly entered the house. "You guys go and look for Gyro upstairs," McDuck told his nephews, "I'll go downstairs and look downstairs in his lab."

"I'm coming with you!" Astro told Scrooge.

Uran followed Huey, Dewey, and Louie upstairs. The split up and checked each of the rooms on the two upper floors, but they found no sign of anybody. Gizmo Duck and Darkwing spread out to search the first floor of the house, but they also found no sign of the inventor.

As Astro and McDuck reached the basement, Astro could pick up a strong odor of Ozone. "Something electrical has been going full blast down here." He told McDuck.

"I can see that, laddy!" McDuck said, or rather I can hear that."

Sure enough, a loud 50hz hum was reverberating throughout the basement.

"Must be a transformer overloaded down here someplace." Astro said.

"Look over here!" McDuck called out, pointing to a large empty area on the floor. There was an outline burned into the concrete where some contraption had once been. Wires that at one time must have been connected to the missing device were hanging loose, their bare ends sparking.

Uran entered the basement and walked up to her brother. She stopped where Astro and Scrooge were and the three of them stared at the empty spot. "No sign of anybody upstairs." Uran said. "Darkwing thinks Gyro has been kidnapped.

"That would be my guess too." McDuck said. "And whoever but the grab on him also made off with a large machine that used to be right here."

 **Uran** had a sour look on her face. "Now how are we going to get home? I thought Gyro could help us." she sobbed.

"We're going to find him!" Darkwing said. "And who robbed the bank as well!"

"Of course we will!" Gizmo Duck added. "But we're going to need some scientific help on this."

"Come on laddies!" McDuck said. "Let's head over to Von Drake's residence. He's as much of a genius as Gearloose, and a professor at Duckburg college too!"

The group left Gearloose's house, Gizmo Duck first turned out the lights and locked the door on their way out. "It's a crime scene and we want to preserve it if we can." he said.

Ludwig Von Drake lived in a large house about a mile away. It was a pleasant walk, and they soon arrived. Scrooge rang the door bell and they waited for the professor to answer the door. They heard the sound of the peep hole in the door open and then the door swung inward. The professor was standing there holding his reading glasses.

"Scrooge McDuck!" he exclaimed, "What brings you over to my house at this hour." Von Drake then noticed Gizmo Duck and Darkwing standing behind McDuck, along with Donald's nephews and the two robot children. "You seem to have brought a crowd along too."

"Someone broke into Gyro's place and has stolen some invention of his." Gizmo Duck explained. "It also appears that Gearloose is missing, probably kidnapped by whoever broke into his house."

"There's been a robbery at the bank, my money bin has been picked clean!" McDuck explained. "It appears that the bank robbery is somehow related to whatever Gearloose was working on."

"What makes you think that?" the professor asked.

"I picked up a strange EM reading in the bank vault, and the same reading was present in Gyro's workshop." Gizmo Duck added. "Here take a look at this." The robotic superhero pressed a button on his right gantlet and a printout started to appear out of a slot on his suit. He ripped off the end of the computer printout and handed it to the professor.

"That does look strange." Von Drake replied. "I think I should take a look in Gyro's workshop."

The professor grabbed his coat and walked out the front door. After locking the door, he led the group out to the side of the house and opened his garage door, where an old SUV was parked. "Get in, I'll drive" he said.

The old Jeep bounced along the street on its worn suspension, treating its passengers to a bumpy ride. They arrived back at Gyro's house, and poured out of the 4x4. "I'll open the door," Gizmo Duck said, producing a key from a compartment in his super suit. Once again they found themselves in the basement of the inventor's house. Von Drake took his time examining every piece of equipment remaining in the workshop, and paid particular attention to the spot where the stolen apparatus had once stood.

"Any ideas professor?" Gizmo Duck asked.

"I think I we can locate where the stolen machine is, and Gyro as well." Von Drake explained. "All we have to do is to follow the EM wave that it left behind." He motioned to Gizmo, "Can I borrow you for a second?"

"What do you need?" Gizmo asked.

"I need to plug your suit into Gyro's computer over here."

Von Drake was already seated in front of Gyro's computer that had been left on. He grabbed a network cable and inserted it into the LAN socket on Gizmo's suit and downloaded the raw data from the EM readings he'd seen earlier.

"Now I need to do a quick analysis of this." Von Drake used Gyro's computer to log onto the mainframe at the university and uploaded the suit data. He started to run a remote analysis program. "Should get the answers I'm looking for in a few minutes," he smiled. "Ah there we go!"

A graphical plot appeared on the screen. "OK, seems like there was a residue trace left behind, about 13.8 GHZ background. All we need to do is track that."

"I don't think my suit will help us there, professor." GizmoDuck said. "My build in sensors don't go that high."

"Mine do!" Astro said.

"YES!" Von Drake laughed patting Astro on the head. "You ARE a robot aren't you!" The professor pointed to the computer screen. "See this waveform? It's an echo left behind when Gyro's machine was last activated. The transference left this echo behind, just like the background radiation from the big bang! You can track it to its destination and we will find where it went."

"Went?" Darkwing asked.

Gizmo Duck facepalmed himself, and nearly took an eye out with his right gantlet. "Of course!"

"In English you nerds!" McDuck said.

"Gyro's machine was obviously a matter transference device." Von Drake said. "He attended a lecture I gave a few months ago at the university when Stephen Duckling was our guest speaker. The subject was all about black holes and inter-dimensional worm holes. I think Gyro put the theoretical data to a practical use."

"Hey, that's like what Hakase built, isn't it Ani?" Uran said.

"Yes, I think it is." Astro replied. "Maybe that will be our way back home!"

"Ay laddie, but first you'll have to find it!" McDuck said.

Astro held his hands up to his ears and rotated his head. "I think I sense the background wave the professor mentioned. I can follow it to its source, but it will be easier if I fly."

Astro lead the group upstairs. He exited the house via the front door. "Hey Gizmo," he asked. "What radio channel can you monitor?"

"My suit's comm unit is on the 27mhz band." GizmoDuck said.

"I always figured you for a CB'er" Darkwing laughed.

"OK." Astro said. "I'll contact you when I locate Gyro!" Astro leaped into the air and started to track the background signal.

"I hope he finds Gyro." Uran sighed.

"Me too!" McDuck replied. "Along with my money!"


	5. Chapter 5

**A Fowl State of Affairs**

 **5.**

 **Howard Muscovy DeDuck** sat behind a huge desk in nerve center of the criminal organization, F.O.W.L. Howard had taken control of the 'Fiendish Organization For World Larceny' by succeeding the late Dr. Nogood, who had died a horrible death being slowly dissolved in a huge vat of acid. Howard had allowed the suspicion throughout the organization that he was responsible for Nogood's demise linger, as that inspired enough fear and respect for his authority.

Howard took a deep drag on his cigar and blew the smoke out in the direction of Gyro Gearloose who sat tied up in a large chair. "You've gotten what you were looking for!" Gyro said, "how much longer are you going to keep me here?"

Howard took another puff on his cigar. "Shut up!, I'm not done with you yet," he sneered. "This was only the first haul, McDuck has other money bins, and then there is Fort Knockwurst waiting to be plundered."

"You're crazy!" Gyro replied. "You'll never get away with this."

"You under estimate the resources of F.O.W.L." DeDuck laughed, pointing to the organizations flag hanging on the wall behind him. "The Fiendish Organization For World Larceny has plans for world domination by undermining the currency of every major nation. With Scrooge McDuck holding almost 50% of the nation's wealth, we're starting with him in our plans."

Howard got out of his chair and walked towards the back of the room where a large machine stood. Extremely heavy, the gigantic contraption was wired directly into the electric mains via a huge cable which ran though a window and was connected up to the high tension wires on a utility pole in the alley behind the building. The wooden floor below the machine was creaking under its weight as if it were about to give way and drop into the basement.

"Very interesting device." Howard said, as if praising the inventor. "Not only able to transfer large amounts of heavy objects across town, but even move itself."

"Took me three years to figure it all out!" Gyro said. "But I never intended it to be used for evil purposes!"

"Now now, Gearloose" Howard said, flicking the ashes of his cigar onto the top of the inventor's head, "don't make value judgments here! You don't know what's at stake."

* * *

 **Astro** had his heads up display hanging in front of his field of view as he flew over the city. He could see the weak 13.8 Ghz EM field in front of him like a dim fog that filled the sky. It looked like some kind of thin cloud of steam rising out of a smokestack and bending this way and that in the wind. Astro followed the apparition, it formed a clear path leading him onward. Eventually he reached the end of the trail in a dingy industrial district on the edge of Duckburg. He landed in the middle of an old mill complex consisting of a dozen brick buildings along a large pond feed by a rapidly flowing river. The place had once been a factory of some kind, but now it was abandoned, there were no signs that any of the structures had been in use for many years. And yet, he did sense a presence. It would take him some time to search the entire complex, but he felt sure that he'd found the location where Gyro and his machine had been taken. Astro radioed his position to Gizmo Duck who immediately responded.

"Got the location, Astro!" Gizmo replied. "I'm on my way!"

Gizmo Duck's super suit propelled the robotic superduck hero at a few hundred miles per hour. He balanced perfectly on the single wheel, making sharp turns on a dime, and zooming though alleys and other short cuts. In less than 15 minutes of receiving Astro's radio contact, Fenton Crackshell arrived on the scene.

 **Astro** met Gizmo Duck in an alley between two of the buildings. Within minutes a dark colored, high powered automobile with green headlights silently pulled up and stopped. The drivers side door on the coupe opened up and Darkwing Duck stepped out.

"How did you manage to keep up with me?" Gizmo Duck asked. "I never saw you behind me."

"My car is well camouflaged for the night, isn't it?" Darkwing said. "Perhaps, that's why I've named her the 'Dark Beauty'. Besides, I'm not at all surprised that we ended up here. Interquack has suspected that this part of town was where F.O.W.L.'s HQ was located.

"Yes, that would explain a lot of things." Gizmo agreed. "But I thought F.O.W.L. had gone inactive ever since Dr. Nogood got himself killed."

"The rumor mill has it that F.O.W.L. has a new leader." Darkwing replied.

"Gyro's machine is somewhere around here." Astro said. "But there doesn't seem to be any sign of life in any of these buildings."

"They probably have the window's well covered and the inside soundproofed," Darkwing said. "At least that is what I would have done."

"Well even if we can't see anything, maybe I can hear something." Astro said as he held his hands up to his ears and cranked his hearing up to 1000 times gain. Astro scanned his head back and forth. "You're probably right about the sound proofing, I can't detect any sounds of occupation."

Suddenly a warning bell sounded inside of Gizmo Duck's suit. "I've just detected a power spike."

"I heard that!" Astro cried out breaking into a run. "This building!"

Astro smashed though the door of a building about 500 yards from where they were standing. Darkwing and Gizmo followed him into the building.

The inside of the building was mostly empty. It clearly had been abandoned for quite some time. Except for a few bits of old office furniture there wasn't much in the largely gutted interior. A bright ball of light buzzing with a loud 50 cycle hum that hurt the ears filled the middle of the space. A warm blast of air nearly knocked our hero's over as they entered the room. "What the hell is that!" Darkwing yelled loud enough for the others to hear him over the vibration.

"I think that is Gyro's machine!" Gizmo Duck yelled back.

The glare and the humming sound gradually faded and the wind died down. Where the ball of light had been there now was a large scorch mark on the floor. Two high voltage cables connected into a ceiling mounted junction box dangled on the floor, their bare ends arcing. Astro grabbed the two cables and yanked them free from the ceiling and the electrical fireworks stopped.

"It would appear that whoever was here has used Gyro's machine to transport themselves elsewhere," Gizmo Duck said.

"They must have detected our presence somehow." Darkwing sighed.

Astro stood there for a moment. "I think I can follow them again." he said. "I can detect the 13.8 GHZ EM field it left behind.

"How many times are we going to have to do this?" Darkwing asked.

"If we're lucky, maybe we can catch up with them before they can operate Gyro's machine again." Astro said running from the building. "I'll follow the trail and contact you again Gizmo."

"Right." GizmoDuck replied. "I hope this is also a short hop."

* * *

" **That was too close!"** Howard said, puffing on his cigar. "With any luck those two goody two shoes won't get lucky again. Good thing I put a tracking device in Darkwing's car!"

Howard threw Gyro out of the machine's transport chamber and then exited the device himself. He looked himself over, nervously. "Well, everything seems to be in the right place."

"Oh come on." Gyro said. "I told you I've transported myself several times and I'm still in one piece."

Howard walked across the room and stared out of a window. "Excellent!" He laughed. "Right where I wanted to be. Your navigation skills are right on the money, quite literally!"

* * *

 **Ludwig** Von Drake's old SUV rumbled to a stop in McDuck's driveway, barely missing the bumper from Launchpad's taxicab that was still lying there. Scrooge and Von Drake got out of the front seat, and Uran and the triplets poured out of the back. Uran held her hands up to her ears and smiled. "Astro says he and Gizmo are still searching for Gyro and the machine." she said. "Ani says they gave them the slip."

McDuck opened the side door to his mansion, and let himself and his guests in. "Where's Duckworth?" Huey asked, "He usually opens the door before you can even ring the bell."

"I gave him the evening off." Scrooge said.

"You mean you fired him because you can't afford to pay him anymore since your money bin was robbed?" Louie asked, with some worry in his voice.

"Not at all!" Scrooge laughed. "Actually this is Duckworth's first night off in about two years. As for me being poor, do ya think that bank was the only place I have me money stashed? Follow me!"

McDuck directed the triplets to the far wing of the house where they had never been before. They headed into the basement of the house where a large steel door bared the way. Scrooge quickly spun the three combination lock dials and yanked on the handle to open the door. He pointed to the inside of the cavernous room, which was filled with gold coins. "See, what did I tell ya!"

"Wow, what a relief!" Dewey quacked.

McDuck slammed the door shut and spun the dials. "OK, lets get back the living quarters!" he said.

They mounted the stairs and found themselves on the main floor again. "Hey Uncle Scrooge, what's in this wing of the house besides your money bin in the basement?" Louie asked.

"This is actually the original part of the house." McDuck said. "It's rather squalid compared to the mansion but rather than tear it down I just built a new house in front of it and left it as camouflage for the money bin in the basement."

"That's smart!" Huey said.

They entered the house and sat down in the living room.

"I've got to be going now." Von Drake said. "Let me know if Astro and Gizmo find Gearloose."

"You'll be the first one I call." McDuck said, escorting the professor to the door. "Don't trip over the junk that McQuack left in my driveway. I'll have Duckworth haul it away tomorrow."

Von Drake's SUV backed out of the driveway and headed down the street.

"I think we'd better get to bed." McDuck told his nephews. "Oh and show Uran to one of the guest rooms."

"OK, Uncle Scrooge." the ducklings responded in chorus.

Suddenly there was an explosion like noise that shook the house. A blinding flash of light came from the upstairs windows of the old section of the house they had just come from. "What the hell was that!" McDuck yelled.

* * *

" **If** my calculations are correct," Howard quacked, "we are now in the old wing of McDuck's mansion directly above his money bin. How much power is left in your machine?"

Gyro looked at the control panel. "There is enough charge left in the capacitor for one short jump, Two if we leave the machine behind."

"That will do." Howard smiled. "I want you to suck the money bin dry and transport its contents back to F.O.W.L.'s secret vault where you transported the contents of his bank. Then you are going to transport us back to F.O.W.L. HQ."

"I don't think so." Gearloose said defiantly."

"Try that again?" Howard said, pulling a large handgun from a holster under his jacket.

Gyro grumbled and set the controls on the transporter. He punched the large switch on the panel and the machine came back to life. For a split second it emitted a loud explosive 'CRACK" and a blinding light. For a very brief instant the image of several tons of gold coins and paper bills appeared in the machines transport chamber, and then all was quiet.

"Done." Gyro said. "There's just enough charge left to transport you back to your H.Q."

"Set the controls." Howard said, pointing the gun at Gyro.

Gearloose quickly entered the coordinates that he had memorized hours ago. He pressed a memory switch and then rechecked his data.

Howard pushed Gyro into the machine and then followed him inside, holding onto the control panel at the end of a six foot cable. He examined the destination setting on the display and smiled. "OK, now we're both getting out of here." He said handing the controls to Gyro. "Hit it!"

Gyro quickly pressed the memory recall button and slammed down on the activate switch. He jumped out of the machine just as the energy was building up for transfer. Howard tried to stop him, but it was too late as he dematerialized before he could grab at the inventor.

 **Astro** zeroed in on the source of the EM signal and realized that it was coming from McDuck's place. "Hey Gizo!" he radioed back, "It looks like the bad guys are raiding McDuck's house. The machine rematerialized in his back 40."

"Got that!" Gizmo returned, "I'll beat you back there." The robotic super duck took to the main streets and roared back to the McDuck mansion with Darkwing's 'Dark Beauty' automobile right behind him.

 **Scrooge,** Uran and the ducklings ran back to the old section of the house. "That disturbance came from upstairs, just above my money bin!" Scrooge yelled. The small army mounted the stairs and found themselves in the old master bedroom, just above the secret money vault. A large machine sat in the middle of the room where McDuck's double emperor sized bed once sat. The room reeked of smoke and ozone. Gyro Gearloose sat on the floor rubbing a bump on the top of his head where he had landed after somersaulting himself out of the transporter.

"Gyro!" Scrooge exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine." the inventor said. "I managed to get rid of that evil DeDuck, finally."

At that moment a set of footsteps, the squeal of a unicycle tire, and Astro's soft squeaky footsteps entered the room.

"You mean Howard Muscovy DeDuck?" Darkwing asked. "I've been after him for months after he 86'ed Dr. Nogood to take control of F.O.W.L."

"Yeah that's him." Gyro answered. "He forced me to use my invention to help him rob McDuck's money bin at the bank, and then he made me bring us here to steal the contents of the vault here."

"You didn't do it did you?" McDuck asked.

"I'm sorry, but the contents of your money bin are now inside of the F.O.W.L. secret vault." Gyro said. "I did manage to transport Howard to the police station though. I switched destinations at the last second and jumped out of my machine. If I got my settings right, Howard just materialized inside of the Duckburg jail."

"Now that's funny!" McDuck laughed. "But what about me money?"

"Well my machine is out of power. If we had a few Gigawatts of power I could transport the entire contents of F.O.W.L.'s vault into yours.

Astro opened his chest panel. "I think I have a few Gigawatts to spare, Gyro. Plug me in!"

Gyro handed Astro the machine's two large power cables. Astro carefully made the connections and sat down. "OK then, let'er rip!" he laughed.

Gyro set the controls on the transporter and punched the switch. Astro groaned as the power was sucked from his reserve back up, as the machine again came to life. It briefly emitted a blinding light, and then grew quiet. Below them there was heard a creaking noise, and then a huge KABOOM!

"What was that?" Gizmoduck asked.

"I think we may have overstuffed my money bin." McDuck said, heading for the staircase leading down to the vault. Astro yanked himself free from the cables and closed his panel. He still had about 1/4 of his energy left. The gang followed McDuck downstairs. Sure enough, the heavy steel door of the vault had been blown off of its hinges and the walls of the vault room were bulging outward.

"You're going to need either a crowbar, or dynamite to get your money out of there now," Gyro laughed. "If it was packed any denser in there, you'd have a black hole!"


	6. Chapter 6

**A Fowl State of Affairs**

 **6.**

 **Professor** Ochanomizu crawled out from under the platform of the machine. Yuko and Cobalt helped him get back on his feet after having laid on his back in an awkward position for almost an hour as he soldered the last of the wires back into place.

"How does it look Hakase?" Yuko asked. "Will you be able to get them back?"

"I don't know yet," the professor said. "I only have a vague idea of where they ended up. The dimensional coordinates were still in the machines memory, but the actual latitude and longitude settings I have are not exact. I could end up within a 100 mile radius of their exact position if I'm lucky. At least the temporal and spacial planes are known."

"What do you mean by that?" Cobalt asked.

"It means I know what position in time and alternate dimensional planes they are in. I will end up on the right planet and the right day, but maybe in the wrong city." Ochanomizu explained.

"Then you're going to need a volunteer to test it?" Cobalt asked.

"No, I'm going to test it myself," the professor insisted.

"No you're not!" Yuko yelled. "If anything happens to you, no one else will be able to figure it out."

"I'm the logical test subject." Cobalt said, opening the door to the machine. "I'll get my brother and sister back!"

"I hate to say it," Ochanomizu sighed, "But you're both absolutely correct. Perhaps you'd better take this two way radio with you, Korbaruto. We should be able to communicate with you, and track your position with it, if I can leave the wormhole open while you're gone. You'll know if you've arrived in the right spot if you are in a community populated by duck people. Just before the machine melted down after transporting Astro and Uran, it sent back a blurry image of the destination. They seem to have been sent to an alternate universe populated by duck people." The professor handed Cobalt a small pocket sized transceiver. Cobalt clipped the unit to his waist band and entered the machine.

"Good luck Korbaruto!" Yuko said as the professor activated the transporter machine. Cobalt saluted as he faded from view.

* * *

 **Minnie** and Mickey were having dinner at Mickey's house, this being a Sunday evening. Pluto was under the table, munching on a soup bone that Mickey had given him. "This roast beast is very good!" Minnie said, and the soup was out of this world. I'm so lucky to have a first class chef as a boy friend!" Minnie said.

"Gosh!" Mickey blushed. "I'm not really that good, I mean I don't do this professionally."

"You should!" Minnie said. "Why don't you open a restaurant? It would be the best one in Mouseton!"

"You think so?" Mickey asked.

"If not a restaurant, then a bakery for sure!" Minnie added. "I can't wait to taste tonight's desert. Your devil's food cake is to die for!"

CRASH! Suddenly a loud noise came from the kitchen. The sound of a table collapsing and various items falling to the floor lasted for several seconds, along with the cry of "OUCH!"

"Sounds like someone's broken into my kitchen!" Mickey said with alarm, picking up a large steak knife in his hand and carefully making his way into the kitchen to confront the intruder.

 **Cobalt** materialized in the middle of the kitchen work table. Since two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time, the table exploded sending its contents flying about the room. A large seven layer devil's food cake took flight and hit the robot squarely in the back of his head. He reached up and removed some icing from his hair spikes and licked his fingers. "Mmmm" he smiled, it tasted real good!

Mickey opened the door to the kitchen to find Astro's brother, covered with the desert that had taken him hours to bake. "You, You cake murderer!" he yelled. "How dare you break into my house and ruin my desert!"

Cobalt blinked with disbelief at the sight of the mouse. Mickey's ears stood up from the back side of his head, cocked at the same angle from each other as Astro's cowlicks. "Sorry about the mess." Cobalt said sheepishly. "I didn't have any control of how I landed. Have you seen two robots that look a bit like me?" he asked.

"You're the first of your kind I've ever seen." Mikey said wiping a finger over Cobalt's back and coming up with a hand full of chocolate icing.

Cobalt face palmed. "Wait, you're a mouse not a duck. I'm in the wrong country or something."

"Duckburg is the next town over." Mickey replied. "If your friends are there, I can drive you over to look. But I'm going to need some help to explain to Minnie about desert."

 **Minnie** Mouse opened the door to the kitchen to find her boy friend talking to a strange looking robot covered with devil's food cake. Laughing, she grabbed a towel, moistened it in the sink, and started to wipe Cobalt clean with it. "You look harmless enough!" she laughed at Astro's brother. "What a clumsy bugler!"

"Sumimasen" Cobalt said. "My name is Korbaruto. I didn't break in, I was transported here from another universe by a machine. I really didn't have any control of how, or where I was going to end up. I'm looking for my brother and sister who were also accidentally sent to your world, but apparently to Duckburg. By the way, where am I?"

"You're in Mouseton." Minnie said. "You poor thing, you're a mess!"

"Yeah, I seem to be covered with your desert." Cobalt laughed. "Sorry I ruined your dinner."

"Don't worry, my boyfriend will bake me another cake." Minnie said. "Besides, I'm too full to eat another bite. But I think I'd like some espresso."

Mickey looked behind him and saw that the coffee press was not damaged by the flying debris. "I'll make us some Java, and then we'll drive our new friend over to Duckburg to see Professor Von Drake. Maybe he can make some sense of all this."

* * *

 **Gyro Gearloose** looked over the smoking mess that was his transporter machine. "That last surge of power didn't do it much good," he sighed. "It looks like the flux capacitor is burned out."

"You mean you can't transport us back home?" Uran said with a cry in her voice.

"Well, I might be able to fix it."Gyro said, shrugging his shoulders, "But even if the machine was working, I have no idea where you guys came from. Since it appears that you were transported over an inter-dimensional path from an alternate universe, the possible coordinates in the space time continuum higher dimensions are almost limitless."

Uran sobbed. "Gee, you were our only hope." She said looking at the inventor with tear filled eyes.

"Don't give up sis." Astro said, trying to reassure his sister, "I'm sure Hakase will find us."

* * *

 **Mickey,** Minnie, and Cobalt got into Mickey's Jeep and drove the few miles from Mouseton to Duckburg. Cobalt sat in the rear of the Jeep facing backwards, as there wasn't a seat in the cargo bed of the vehicle. He held on to the floor straps as the Jeep bounced over the bumpy roads.

"Ludwig Von Drake is one of the smartest guys in the country." Mickey assured Cobalt as he parked the automobile in front of the professor's house. "Your brother and sister would probably have been told to seek him out if they explained their situation to anybody with half a brain."

Mickey rang the doorbell. "Might take him a few minutes to come to the door," he said, "The professor is a bit absent minded and often forgets where his eye glasses are, even when he's wearing them!"

Soon the sound of the lock being undone could be heard, and the door was opened. Professor Von Drake smiled when he saw the two mice. "Hello Mickey!" he said, "what brings you and Minnie over to Duckburg?" He then noticed Cobalt standing behind Minnie and pointed at him.

"You must be Astro's brother, aren't you?"

"You know my brother?" Cobalt asked.

"I met him the other day." The professor said. "He and his sister are visiting with the gazillionaire Scrooge McDuck. They asked for my help in getting back home after transporting here by accident." Von Drake removed his glasses and wiped them clean on his shirt, and then replaced them on his nose. "Come to think of it, how did YOU get here."

"Hakase Ochanomizu fixed the machine and took a guess at the coordinates." Cobalt said. "He seems to have gotten the time and dimensional settings right, but missed on the location and I ended up in Mouseton."

"I know where McDuck lives." Mickey said. "Let's head over there now and you can tell your family the good news."

"I'll follow in my SUV." Von Drake said. "I wonder if Gizmo Duck and Astro ever found Gyro Gearloose and his missing invention."

* * *

 **About** 15 minutes later Mickey pulled his Jeep into McDuck's driveway. He slammed on the brakes to miss hitting a taxi cab bumper lying in the middle of the road. The three of them got out of the vehicle and walked over to the front door, which was already opened with Duckworth standing there.

"Hi Mr. Duckworth." Mickey said. "Is Mister McDuck at home?"

"Yes he is." Duckworth said. "Follow me."

Mickey, Minnie, and Cobalt walked into the mansion just as Von Drake's old SUV pulled in behind the Jeep. Ludwig waddled quickly up the walk path and followed the mice into the house. Duckworth then closed the door behind him.

Astro, Uran, Huey, Dewey, and Louie were in the large great room engaged in a video game of motocross racing. McDuck had suggested that the youngsters play together to get Uran's mind off of her troubles. Scrooge and Gearloose were in the other section of the house trying to figure out how to get into the money bin which was now a solid mass of fused coins and bills.

"Hello!" Cobalt cried out as he entered the room. Uran turned to see her brother and dropped the video controller she had in her hands. She launched herself into a flying bear hug and crashed into Cobalt. "Korbaruto!" she cried out, showering him with kisses. "Did Hakase send you?"

"Yes he did." Cobalt said. "Opps, I completely forgot!" He removed the two way radio from his belt and held it to his mouth, pressing the talk button. "Hakase! Do you hear me. I've found them!"

Ochanomizu's voice came crackling out of the transceiver's tiny speaker. "I hear you Korbaruto! I can track you, and I see the exact coordinates now! The machine has to recharge a bit more, and then I can transport all of you back home, but you'll have to hold hands to make sure that I get all of you locked in!"

"OK, Hakase!" Cobalt replied back. "Call me when you're ready!"

"I'll do that." Ochanomizu radioed back. "Looks like it will be about an hour at least, so just relax until then."

"See, I told you Hakase would find us!" Astro told Uran.

* * *

 **Astro** stood at the door to McDuck's money bin. "OMG," he laughed, "What a wad of cash!"

"That's not funny!" McDuck said. "How am I going to be able to spend that?"

"You could melt it all down." Gyro suggested. "Most of the coinage is gold."

"Yeah but there's lots of paper money in there too!" McDuck said.

"I could cut though the walls with my lasers and lift up the roof." Astro said.

"But you'd need a fleet of dump trucks to carry it all away!" Gyro pointed out.

"I'll call Launchpad." Scrooge said. "He has a cousin that works for a construction company. They have a bunch of trucks!"

With a half an hour several dozen dump trucks rumbled over the back entrance to the McDuck property and backed up to the rear of the estate. Astro used his lasers to cut through the walls of the building and then lifted the roof off of the building. He broke the huge wad of coins apart with his fists, and started to carry the load out of the building. He made several trips into the massive pile of money, and carried it all out of the building to load up the convoy of trucks.

Launchpad McQuack got into the truck at the front of the line and leaned his head out of the window.

"Don't worry about a think Mr. McD, We'll have your money back in the bank in no time!"

Scrooge waved back at McQuack as the truck convoy headed out. "I hope he doesn't get lost." McDuck sighed.

"Or in an accident!" Louie said.

"Well, at least he's driving a big truck." McDuck said. "Even Launchpad would have a hard time damaging that!"

Astro's heads up display popped into his field of vision to show his brother calling him.

"Astro!" Cobalt said, "I just heard from Hakase Ochanomizu. He's ready to transport us back home!"

"OK Korbaruto!" Astro radioed back. "I'll be right there!"

* * *

 **It** took Astro, and Uran a few minutes to say their goodbyes to everyone.

"You've got to come back and visit us!" Huey sobbed.

"Promise?" Louie added.

"Please!" Dewey quacked.

"Sure thing." Uran said, "If Hakase forgives us for using his machine without his permission!"

Minnie asked Astro to pose for a picture with her and Mickey before leaving with his siblings. She handed Uran her cellphone and Uran took their picture. Astro then took Cobalt's hand, and Uran took Astro's other hand. Cobalt then triggered the PTT switch on the hand held transceiver as a signal to Ochanomizu to activate the machine.

 **The** world around them spun up in a field of colored lights. Scrooge McDuck's mansion and all of Duckburg vanished from their eyes and they felt themselves falling though time and space in a dizzying blur. Slowly the strange feeling disappeared and they found themselves back in the laboratory at the Ministry of Science.

"Welcome home!" the professor smiled.

"You're not mad at me Hakase, are you?" Uran asked.

Ochanomizu put on his sternest looking face and glared at Uran. "Young lady, I'm very upset at what you did! I thought I'd lost you and Astro forever! You're very lucky that I was able to repair the machine and that Korbaruto was brave enough to go looking for you!"

Uran started to sob, and almost burst out in tears. The professor's face softened at the sight, and the robot girl saw though his subterfuge. She launched herself into his arms and gave him a bear hug.

"You know I love you too much to say mad!" Ochanomizu laughed.

"Well you know, I still want to go to Disney World!" Uran said, batting her eyes at the professor.

Astro and Cobalt face palmed. Ochanomizu sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "You'll just have to settle for Tokyo Disneyland young lady. A trip to Florida, USA isn't in my budget right now."

"That will be fine!" Uran said, giving her guardian another hug.

* * *

 **A** few day's later the four of them were walking though the theme park, Uran was as happy as a clam and on cloud nine. A number of the Disney characters, actors in costumes of course, came up to them and said hello. Among them were Mickey and Minnie mouse.

Uran laughed as the actors walked past. "Do you think we should tell Hakase the whole story, Ani?" she asked Astro.

"Probably not," her brother laughed. "He'd never believe us anyway!"

 _ **The End**_


End file.
